Smart Membrane for hydrogen energy conversion:

All fuel cell functionalities in One Material

A European Small-Scale Project supported through the Seventh Framework Programme

for Research and Technological Development.
 Context
Previous work made in the field of membrane electrode assembly for fuel cells is based on the optimization of both
stand alone materials: the catalytic electrode and the membrane. The assembly of these “separately optimized” mate-
rials into a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) is usually done by a hot press procedure. The MEA performances,
therefore, are usually not limited only by materials properties but also by the interface effect between the catalytic
layers and the membrane.

All in one innovative concept

All in One MEA
The SMAllinOne project introduces a “Smart All in One”
fuel cell corresponding to a thin film protonic conduc- 02 Porous C matrix
with catalyst clusters 0%
e-

tive membrane with two catalytically functionalized H+ Dense proton

25%

sides. The AllinOne membrane is a novel composite ma- conductive membrane

100%

terial adapted for fuel cell technologies as there is no Porous C matrix

25%

boundary between the membrane and the electrodes. H2

with catalyst clusters 0%
e-
The innovative idea is to keep a same proton conductive Porous substrate
backbone for each layer, and to functionalize it with em- %
protonic

bedded conductive catalyst particles for the electrodes. groups

The strategy is articulated around four main phases:

1- The basic materials for the membrane and the catalytic
electrode will be developed separately using vacuum
based nanomaterial science technologies.
2- The selected components will be merged to generate
a first composite material without interfaces: AllinOne
membrane.
3- Enhancement of the materials capabilities will be
done through nano-particulates addition to produce a
second generation of smart multi-functionalized mem-
brane: SMAllinOne.
4- This second generation will be optimized and tested
for further industrial implementation.

Scientific and technological objectives

The SMAllinOne project aims to build a smart functionalized protonic membrane without interfaces, keeping in mind
future large scale initiatives.

Synthesis of a proton conductive membrane via Structuring of a platinum catalytic network inside
vacuum techniques: the membrane:
For the vacuum growth of this advanced proton conduc- The potential of several vacuum methods (sputtering, co-
tive membrane, new volatile chemical precursors will be deposition, atomized spray plasma deposition...) will be
synthesized, with protected acidic functions. The chal- evaluated. Then the catalytic network will be integrated
lenge is thus to prevent the decomposition of the func- in the proton conductive membrane.
tional groups during the thin film membrane deposition.
Various vacuum techniques will be investigated.
Smart Membrane
for hydrogen energy
conversion: All fuel cell
functionalities in One Material

Adding smart functionalities: 3D conformability:

The smart functionalities target the enhancement of the 3D conformability of the material will be studied for an
electrical conductivity, the water management, the mem- increased apparent active surface.
brane permeability and the porosity of the catalytic
networks. To add such functionalities, low cost nano-par-
ticles will be introduced near the Pt nano-particles, hydro-
philic domains and hydrogen getter will be added to the
membrane and the porosity of the catalytic sides will be
adjusted for efficient fuel supply.

AllinOne (GEN1) SMAllinOne (GEN2)

Precursors synthesis Thin film membrane Catalyst network Smart functionalities 3D conformability

O OR4 AllinOne
R1 S < 5µm
O
R2 R3

Catalyst nanoparticle Gold nanoparticle Hydrophilic nanoparticle or getter particle

SMAllinOne solution pathway and Workpackages

In the 1st phase, basic catalytic

and membrane materials will be Precursor’s synthesis R1 Concept baseline Built-in added functions
GEN1
separately set up to be used as pre- T0+12
liminary building blocs.
Basic material baseline R2 T0+18 R3 T0+24
 1st main review point, (R1) at
Month 12: Basic material syn-
thesis. Advanced materials «AllinOne» «SMAllinOne»
GEN1 GEN2

In the 2 phase, these prelimi-

nd

nary building blocs will be merged R4 T0+36

together to set up the concept baseline of the graded material. At month 18, this know-how
will be applied to optimized materials to produce a first generation of composite membrane
material: the AllinOne concept.
2nd main review point, (R2) at Month 18: Proof of AllinOne concept GEN1.

In the 3rd phase, advanced functionalities such as electrical conductivity, tailored porosity, water retention and 3D
conformability will be developed on a single material. In parallel, the AllinOne concept will be optimized.
3rd main review point, (R3) at Month 24: Optimized AllinOne concept.

In the 4th phase, advanced functionalities will be embedded in the AllinOne concept to produce a smart composite
membrane: SMAllinOne with enhanced electrochemical performances.
4th main review point, (R4) at Month 36: Proof of SMAllinOne concept GEN2.
 Consortium
The SMAllinOne consortium consists of 7 partners in 5 countries.
Energy
The project brings together a wide scope of scientific and industrial par-
tners - each player with its genuine knowledge - to form a multidisciplinary Nanomaterial Microelectronics

consortium:
Technology SMAllinOne Electrochemistry

• Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (France): Project coordination;

Chemistry Physics
development, characterization and integration of catalytic and mem-
brane processes and materials Catalyst

• Universita degli Studi di Bari (Italy) : New volatile acidic chemical

precursor synthesis; plasma and vacuum deposition processes
• Surface Innovations Ltd (UK): Creation of proton conducting membranes and catalysts by Atomised Spray Plasma
Deposition technique
• Bar-Ilan University (Israel): Multi-step organic / organo-metallic precursor synthesis; nanofabrication of hybrid
systems
• IRD Fuel Cells A/S (Denmark): Characterization, testing and benchmarking in fuel cell domain
• Federal Mogul Systems Protection (France): Orientation the membrane synthesis process for future up-scaling
• ALMA Consulting Group SAS (France): Project management and communication

Acknowledgement
The SMAllinOne project (Energy.2008.10.1.2/NMP-2008-2.6-1) addresses the joint call thematic “Novel mate-
rials for energy applications”. It has been running since 1st of April 2009 and will last 36 months. The research led
in this project has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007 – 2013)
under grant agreement n° NMP3-SL-2009-227177.

Contact
Project Coordinator: CEA : Ms. Jessica THERY, +33 4 38 78 19 40 – jessica.thery@cea.fr
EC Project Officer: DG-Research G3: Mr. Erno VANDEWEERT, +32 2 299 5481 – erno.vandeweert@ec.europa.eu
With the support of: ALMA: Ms. Jetta KERANEN, +33 1 41 49 12 94 – jkeranen@almacg.com
Ms. Aurélie SOTON, +33 1 41 49 12 97 – asoton@almacg.com

SMAllinOne management is operated with Myndsphere Internet Platform: www.myndsphere.com.

www.smallinone.eu
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